A Needed Holiday
by watchitstark
Summary: Hermione and Minerva go skiing. It doesn't quite go as planned. Thanks Rosy for the prompt and happy birthday! HG/MM femslash.


"Are you coming?" Harry questioned, pulling his goggles up onto his forehead, making Ginny laugh at the stupid lines he had around his eyes.

"I think I'm going to go down another time or two, I'm not weak like you guys," she teased with a grin, easily manoeuvring herself, despite her skates, to start the walk/slide over to the cable car station.

"I think I'd like to have another go as well," Minerva added, following Hermione. The others all shrugged and headed in the opposite direction, waving goodbye and leaving the two witches alone.

"Who knew you'd be such a good skier," the older woman siad, impressed, as they waited for the next cable car.

"My parents used to take me every year. I'm not as good as I once was," she shrugged and smiled at the other woman.

"This was a good idea. The holiday, I mean. You can practically see the weight that's been taken off Harry by not being at home."

"We all needed it. We all needed a chance to get away from the magical world and Hogwarts and memories for a while. When we all go back we can go back to having nightmares and checking corners and casting wards before we dare go to sleep."

"Those things will lessen," she said softly, trying to reassure.

"I know," she shrugged again. "I'm just glad that everyone decided to come, considering what an odd mix of people I invited."

"Mr Weasley isn't here," Minerva reminded her.

"that is true, but also whenever I think of him I get angry so maybe that's a good thing. Draco actually actually wants to make amends," Hermione sighed. "Something that Ron is too stubborn to understand, he won't let go of old prejudices."

"Maybe going on holiday with Draco Malfoy is too large a thing to start with?" she suggested, smiling as the cable car arrived and they got on, sitting opposite each other and glad no one had joined them.

"I don't see what the problem is. Draco was worse to Neville and I than he ever was to Ron, if anything we should be the ones who refused to come."

"You organised it so I think that if you didn't attend it would be slightly odd, and one would question why you invited who you did."

"Well yes that's true. But Draco needed a chance to get away from the judgemental looks and whispers he was getting at home," she sighed. "No one wants to believe he can change." The cable car chose that moment to grind to a stop.

"Apparently the cable car doesn't believe he can change either," Minerva remarked wryly, smirking.

Hermione sighed. "This is ridiculous. I don't suppose you brought your wand?"

"No, I was worried it would get damaged."

"So was I. And I figured I knew enough wandless magic to be able to get out of most situations. This wasn't one that I had foreseen as likely to happen."

Minerva frowned. "I do not know enough about how this contraption works to even be able to work out what is wrong, let alone fix it."

"Neither do I, and we're very high up," Hermione paused. "I suppose we'll just have to wait it out."

"I'm sure the people who run the establishment will come and save us at any moment," the older woman said easily.

"They must have planned for this eventuality better than we have." Hermione sighed and unclipped her skis. "It'll probably be a little while before they do, so I guess I might as well make myself comfortable."

Minerva agreed and began taking hers off as well. "It's going to get cold if we're in here for too long," she remarked as she stretched her long legs out on the padded seat..

"That's true, they're built for two minute journeys, not getting stuck for a while."

"I could probably manage a wandless warming charm if it gets to that, but I suggest we save that for use as a last resort."

"At least we have something to do if our hands go blue," she laughed nervously; getting trapped with the woman who made her blush and stutter and her heart go a thousand miles a minute hadn't quite been part of the plan when she organised this trip. Though she had hoped to move their friendship firmly away from that of a teacher and student, this wasn't quite what she had had in mind.

"You were saying about Mr Weasley," the older woman prompted, figuring they may as well continue their conversation.

Hermione sighed. "He just needs to grow up, is all. And amybe gain some new personality traits."

"You sound angry at him," she observed.

"He wanted us to carry on dating and I said I didn't think that was a good idea and that actually we weren't ever dating and he then took that to mean that there must be someone else," she sighed again. "It was a messy conversation."

"It sounds like him not coming on this trip turned out to be a good idea."

"But if he had have come it would have taught him that Malfoy isn't a monster," she paused. "I don't really want to discuss him, though. Did you read the last issue of Transfiguration Today?" she changed the subject and Minerva let her, realising that this was something that Hermione really didn't want to talk about.

20 minutes later Hermione visibly shivered.

"Oh you're cold," Minerva interrupted herself to say.

Hermione laughed. "I was ignoring it, but I guess there's no way to deny it, is there?"

"Come here," Minerva invited, holding out her coat that she had been using as a blanket.

"What? No, I'm fine," she panicked.

"You're obviously not," Minerva smiled and shook the coat invitingly. "Come on, shared body heat is obviously the answer to our present situation."

Hermione relented and got up, joining the older woman on the other side of the car, slipping in beside her, smiling to herself as Minerva wrapped the coat around her, bringing them even closer together.

"Comfortable?"

"Very," Hermione managed, glad that Minerva couldn't see her face as she wasn't sure that she could control her facial muscles at that moment in time.

"So anyway," the older woman delved into discussing another complex Transfiguration theory and Hermione concentrated on that, instead of thinking about the warm body pressed against hers.

"Sorry, I missed that?" she realised she'd completely lost the trail of the conversation.

"Have you even been listening to me?" she questioned accusingly.

"Of course," she hurried to reassure her. "I just maybe zoned out for a second."

"That's unlike you, is something the matter?" the older woman questioned, concerned.

"No, no I'm fine."

"Hmm, are you sure? Because if there's something troubling you I'd be happy to help in any way that I could."

"I know, but honestly, I'm fine," she paused, knowing the older woman wasn't going to leave the conversation there. "I just like someone quite a lot, and with the war being over I feel like I have more of a chance with them than I ever did before, but it's still impossible," she quickly improvised, giving her half the problem.

"Ah yes, a crush would certainly explain our distraction," she attempted to remain jovial even as her heart dropped with the certainty that the person the brunette was referring to was not her.

"It's ridiculous, they don't even see me in such a light," she sighed but found that she was actually relieved to get a chance to talk about it, something she hadn't been able to do recently.

"Do I know them?" the older witch questioned eagerly, happy to listen and be there for Hermione to vent to.

"I'm not giving you any hints, you're far too clever for that," she laughed.

"I suppose there's no way you're going to tell me who it is then?"

"Nope, no way. Not even if you guess."

"Oh that's just rude," she whined a little. "Why not?"

"Only Harry knows and that's how it's staying."

"That means I know them because otherwise you wouldn't be so adamant on me not knowing who they are," Minerva smirked.

"Dammit," the brunette cursed. "I knew you were too smart for this."

"Tell me about them, then, come on," she prodded.

"They're intelligent and witty and like all the same things as me. They're tall," she paused. "I don't really want to tell you much else."

"Well I've already gathered that they're not in your year if they like all the same things as you," she teased.

"Oh that does narrow it down," Hermione laughed.

"Do they know you like them?"

"God no," the brunette said quickly. "I think I'd die if they ever found out."

"It can't be that bad. And surely telling them could lead to the two of ending up happy, unless they're with someone else?"

"No, they're not."

"Well then I say you should go for it; you never now what could happen, it could turn out that they'd liked you too all alone."

"No, there's no way, and I appreciate the relationship that we have now far too much to jeopardise it in such a way."

"If they can't treat you like a normal human being just because you like them then they're obviously not worth the time," Minerva said sternly.

"I couldn't," she objected.

"Hermione, think about the people who died," she paused, thinking about how she would never take her own advice, especially not now she knew that Hermione loved another. "We have so little time to do what we love – take this opportunity."

"Well, you see the thing is..." she trailed off; she couldn't do it, she couldn't tell her. "The person I like is in a position of authority."

"And that's why you're worried? Because they might dismiss it as a crush or question how serious you are?" Hermione nodded. "How long have you liked them for?"

"A few years," she sighed.

"That's a long time for a crush," the older woman mused. "Is it a Hogwarts professor?"

"Oh, erm, no?" she tried, but she never could lie to her professor very well.

"Oh it is? Who? Is it Professor Sinistra, she's quite young?"

"No, no it wasn't. Please don't just list the entire Hogwarts staff," she begged, but Minerva's was already off, her mind runing through who it could be.

"Vector? Although I always heard she was strict to the point of being unfairly cruel."

"No, no, not Vector," she paused. "Both of the teachers you've suggested have been women."

"Well I assumed by the fact that you were saying "they" it meant that you were unwilling to reveal that you're interested in women, or at least, a woman. Was I wrong?"

"Erm, no," she managed. "I'm pretty gay, actually, this just wasn't how I was exactly planning to come out to you."

"I had somewhat gathered, regardless. Your continued lack of interest in boys made it somewhat obvious. I too would describe myself as "pretty gay"," she laughed, not noticing the way that a tiny gasp left the brunette's lips, or the way that her mind sped away from the conversation, analysing the possibilities.

Hermione coughed, attempting to get her bearings, glad she hadn't caused a noticeable lapse in conversation. "I really need to work on my gaydar," she joked weakly.

"It comes with time," Minerva said mock-wisely, smiling. "Is it Irma?" she blurted suddenly.

"Madam Pince?! No way! Sure she let me take out more books than anyone else but I'm not sure she's ever been nice to anyone."

"Hmm... Who's left? No one, there's no one who fits that description left..." she trailed off and her eyes widened. "I do suppose I fit that description," she murmured slowly.

"I suppose you do," Hermione said quietly, ducking her head down and expecting the older woman to move away, not for a warm hand to reach out of their makeshift blanket and grip her chin lightly, pulling her face back up and making her look at her.

"I've been sat through this agonising conversation pretending that I'm not jealous of this person and all the time it was me?" she questioned, exasperated and relieved and amused all at once.

"What-?" she was suddenly interrupted by soft lips on her own, lips she eagerly responded to, grinning into the kiss.

"That was a surprise," she breathed, leaning her forehead against the older woman's.

"I told you it'd work out fine in the end, didn't I?"

At that moment the cable car lurched back into life.

"We might as well be in a romcom," Hermione laughed, eyes sparkling.


End file.
